Electrical stop mechanism for looms.



7 PATENTED MAY 2, 1905. F. M. ARMSTRONG. ELECTRICAL STOP MECHANISM FORLOOMS.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 28, 1902.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

r BY

hr-7 6% N ATTORNEY WITNESSES:

PATENTED MAY 2, 1905.

- P. M. ARMSTRONG. ELECTRICAL STOP MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, 1002.

iNVENTOR V TTORNEYX WITNESSES:

PATENTED MAY 2, 1905.

F. M. ARMSTRONG. ELECTRICAL STOP MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

' APPLIOATION FILED JULY 26,1002.

4 SHEET$-8HEET 3.

: l l i lfllllmlllll No. 788,875. PATENTED MAY 2, 1905. F. M. ARMSTRONG.ELECTRICAL STOP MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, 1902.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Ri 10. E9611. {55 x12 2 m. fly/5f. E9715 WITNESSES: INVENTOR PatentedMay 2, 1905.

FREDERICK M. ARMSTRONG, OF PAW'TUOKET. RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TOKID-ARMSTRONG COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ELECTRICAL STOP MECHANISM FOR LOOIVIS SPECIFICATION forming part ofLetters Patent No. 788,875, dated May 2, 1905.

Application filed July 26, 1902, Serial No. 117,071.

To (til whom/ it may coll/eerie:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK M. ARM- STRONG, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in Pawtucket,Rhode Island, have invented certain newand useful Improvementsin Electrical Stop Mechanisms for Looms, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates in the main to electrical warp stop-motions; andthe object is, in part, to improve the circuit connections in such amanner that the iron frames of the looms may be utilized as parts of thecircuit, but in such a manner that should the metal of .the frames ofadjacent looms be electrically connected theparting of a warp-thread onone loom will not knock ofi' the adjacent looms. The circuit closer andbreaker or switch connected with and controlled by the shipper-leverforms another feature of the invention and the drop devices a thirdfeature thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an embodiment of theinvention, Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic side elevation of a loom,showing the relative positions of the parts and the circuits; and Fig. 2is a front elevation of a part of the loom, showingtheshipper-leverandswitch. Theseviews show the shipper-lever in the position it is heldwhen the loom is running. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating thecircuits on a plurality or series of looms placed in a row abreast, asin a mill. Figs. l and 5 are views illustrating, on a larger scale, theconstruction of the switch, the former being a front view with theface-plate omitted and the latter a section at line :0 in Fig. 4. Fig. 6is a diagrammatic view showing the circuits, but illustrating theapplication of the invention also to a weft stop-motion, as Will behereinafter explained. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are detail views of the form ofswitch to be used where the stop motion is controlled by both the warpand the weft. Fig. 7 is a front view of the switch with thefront plateremoved and the cover in section, and Figs. 8 and 9 are re speetivelysections taken at lines {a and a) in Fig. 7. Figs. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,and 15 are Views of drops which may be used.

Fig. 16

illust "ates a slight modification of an opera- 5o tive connectionbetween the shipper-lever and switch.

It may be explained here that in certain known forms of electricalstop-motions, of which that shown in the patent to Baker and Kip, No.632,004, is an example of a warp stop-motion and that shown in thepatent to Baker and Kip, No. 681,467, is a weft stopmotion, it is verydesirable, for reasons of economy and simplicity, to utilize the ironframe of the loom for a partof the operatingcircuit. It is also thecustom in a mill to place the looms in rows abreast and quite closetogether and to connect the loom-circuit conductors with main supply andreturn conductors from a dynamo or other generator, these latterconductors being common to all the looms in a row.

With the system of Wiring heretofore practiced, so far as .1 am aware,the objection is that if the iron frames of adjacent looms becomeelectrically con nected-as by a wet floor, for example when one loom ofa series knocks off or is stopped all the other looms in the series soelectrically connected will knock elf. To obviate this difficulty andconfine the control of the loom-stopping devices to the particular loomaffected and at the same time to utilize the loom-frame for groundingthe circuit is one of the important objects of 8c the present invention.

Referring primarily to Figs. 1 and 2, l is the iron frame of the loom. 2is the vibratinglay. 3 is the breast-beam. 4: is the shipper-lever. 5 isa hunter on the lay. 6 is a 5 balanced dagger fulcrumed on theshipper-lever and adapted to be brought into the path of the hunter forknocking ofl the loom when i an o )eratin -electromagnet '7 is excitedand l b attracts its armature 8, which is coupled by a rod 9 to one armof the dagger.

The operating-magnet 7 has its coils in an electric circuit which isnormally open and is autonjiatically closed or completed when a failureoccurs in the warp or weft which requires the automatic stopping of theloom.

All of the above features are known and are i only used here for thepurpose of illustration.

' October 20, 1903.

will be insulated from the loom-frame.

An example may be seen in the United States 1 Patent of Baker and Kip,No. 741,951, dated Referring now to Fig. 3, 1 will explain the manner inwhich the circuit-conductors are arranged with respect to the dropdevices, the operating-magnet, the switch, and the main conductorsleading to and coming from the dynamo or generator. In this view twolooms A and B are indicated, and there may be any number of such loomsarranged abreast in a single row or series. Two looms will suifice toillustrate the purpose of this invention so far as the circuits areconcerned. Mounted on the loom-frame is a compound terminal such, forexample, as the terminal illustrated and described in the patent ofBaker and Kip, No. 624,154, of May 2,1899. It will only be necessary toexplain here that this compound terminal comprises a metal bar-terminal10, which is in metallic contact at its ends with the metal loom-frame,and astrip of metal 10, set in but insulated from the bar-terminal 10and forming the other terminal of the operating-circuit. Obviously thestrip-terminal The part of the circuit 11 grounded in the loom-frame isindicated by a dot-and-dash line and connects with the main commonconductor 12, leading to the dynamo, and the part of the circuit 11,which is formed usually of insulated wire and is exterior to theloom-frame, connects with the main common conductor 12 from the dynamo.In other words, the bar-terminals 1O connect, respectively, with theiron frames of the looms in the series, and these iron frames areconnected to the main return-conductor 12, and the main supply-conductor12* is connected by the conductors 11* to the respective terminal strips10 of the compound terminals on the looms. In the circuit formed by theconductor 11 is the operating-magnet 7 next to the terminals 10 and aswitch or circuit-breaker 13 between the magnet 7 and the conductor 12*.This switch will now be described with especial reference to Figs. 4 and5, which show its preferred form. \Vithin a suitable casing 13, whichmay be of metal and secured to the loom-frame, is rotatively mounted aroller 13, of wood or other insulating material, having fixed to it acontact-plate 13, on which may bear normally two contact-springs 13.These springs are connected electrically at binding-posts 13 with therespective wires of the circuit 11. A spring 13 coiled about the journalof the roller 13, tends to hold the plate 13 from under and out ofcontact with the spring contacts 13 thus opening or breaking theoperating-circuit of the loom. The shipper-lever 4 (see Figs. 2 and 3)is coupled to an arm 13 on the projecting journal of the roller 13" by asuitable chain or connector 14, and when the loom is running theshipper-lever holds the arm 13 pulled over,

as in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, and the circuit is thus closed at theswitch; but it remains broken at the compound terminal. At the compoundterminal the circuit may be closed by a drop 15, which is usually madeof thin steel and supported on a warp-thread, its slotted lowerextremity embracing the bar-terminal 10, with which it is normally incontact. When its supporting warp-thread parts, the drop falls intocontact also with the stripterminal 10, thus completing the circuitthrough the operating-magnet 7, which acts through its armature 8, therod 9, the dagger 6, and the hunter 5 to knock off or stop the loom.When the shipper-lever is set free and shifts to stop the loom, it movestoward the switch 13, and thus removes the strain on the connector 14and allows thespring 13 to rotate the roller 13 and break the circuit atthe switch. The switch has or may have a suitable protecting cap orcover 13 of some insulating material. It will be noted that the break inthe circuit made by the movement of the shipper-lever stops the flow ofthe current through the operating-magnet at a moment after the closureis made at the compound terminal, and this prevents the burning out ofthe insulation. Ordinarily the circuit has been grounded in theloomframe at this breaking-point; but in the present construction thereis but one connection with the loom-frameviz., where the part 11 isgrounded therein and the conductor 12 connects therewith. The terminalstrip 10, the magnet 7, and the switch 13 are all in an insulatedexterior part of the circuit which connects with the main conductor 12.In the ordinary or old construction both of the main conductors connectwith the loom-frame, one point of connection being at the shipperlever,where the circuit is broken by the stopping of the loom. This old wiringplaced the operating-magnet 7 between the break at the shipper-lever andone of the main conductors and placed the generator or dynamo in circuitbetween the magnet and the terminal 10.

While, as stated above, one object of the invention is to prevent thestopping of several looms when one is stopped, an equally importantfunction is the stopping of a loom when a short circuit occurs in thewiring connections, inasmuch as such leakage cuts down the voltage ofthe current, thereby impairing the efficiency of the stopping device.Such short circuits are particularly liable to occur on looms when metalwrenches, loom parts, &c., are laid on the loom and in contact with theelectrodes or other necessarily-exposed portions of the circuit. Byemploying a groundcircuit in the manner above described no such currentleakage can occur without stopping the loom, and thus giving evidence ofits existence. Therefore it is essential that one terminal of the opencircuit shall be connected through the loom-frame with one pole of thesourceof current and that the other terminal, the magnet and switch,shall be insulated from the loom-frame. From this it will be seen thatone of the essential features of the invention consists in insulatingfrom the loomframe all that portion of the circuit extending from oneterminal to the source of current and including in that insulatedportion the switch and'magnet and in grounding in the loom-frame thatportion of the circuit extending from the source of current back to theother member of the compound terminal.

Figs. to illustrate in detail several forms of contact-making dropswhich may be 1 used with the terminals or electrodes 10 10.

Figs. 12, 13, and 14 show the drop with slot for the compound terminalsituated above the warp 20. In Fig. 12 the warp-thread passes through asimple thread-aperture 16. In Fig.

13 this aperture connects with an elongated closed slot below, and inFig. let the said aperture connects with an open slot below. In theconstructions of Figs. 10. 11, and 15 the slot for the compound terminalis below the thread aperture 16 and is connected with the latter by anarrow slit 17. Above the warp is a slot 18 to receive a guide rod orwire 19. In Fig. 10 the slot 19 is open at the upper end. In Fig. 11 itis closed at the upper end, and in Fig. 15 it is closed at the upper endand provided with an inclined surface 20 to form a contact with thestrip-terminal 1O in cases where for certain reasons it is desirable toput the compound terminal above the warp. The drop of Fig. 15 may thusbe employed where the terminals are above the warp or below the warp.

Fig. 6, as stated, is a diagram showing how the invention is adapted foruse in setting in 1 operation the stopping mechanism of the loom whenthe weft in the running shuttle is substantially exhausted and also whena warpthread fails. In this figure the magnet, circuits, &c., for thewarp stop-motion are the same as those before described, the part 11 ofthe circuit being grounded in the loom-frame; but the switch illustratedin detail in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 differs from that seen in Figs. 4 and 5in having an extra or third contact device which closes a branch circuitfor the weftcontrolling devicethat is to say, this branch circuitcomprises an exterior portion 11", including an operating-magnet 7 X anda portion 11, which is grounded in the loom-frame. There is a break inthis branch circuit which will be closed and the circuit completed whenthe exhausted shuttle S enters the shuttlebox. The current then flows,for example, from 12 to the middle spring-contact of the switch 13 (seeFig. 6,) thence by conductor 1lto and through the coils of theoperatingmagnet 7 x to the shuttle, thence to the circuit 11, groundedin the loom-frame, and thence through the latter to the conductor 12. As

the switch 13 is precisely like the switch 13, except in having a thirdcontact-spring for the branch circuit, the same reference char actersare employed in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 as are employed in Figs. 4 and 5.

The switch herein described has some ad vantages which may be pointedout. It is simple and inexpensive and is readily adaptable to loomshaving their shipper-levers arranged in any of the ordinary or knownways. The spindle 13 on which the wooden roller or part 13 is secured,may be readily drawn out and reversed, so as to put the handle 13 on theopposite side of the casing. The roller is set on the spindle by meansof an ordinary set-screw 13. (Seen in Figs. 1 and 5.)

Obviously it is not material whether the current flows back to thegenerator through the conductor 12 or 12.

So long as all the loom-frames are to the same pole of the generatordirect and the exterior circuits 11, containing the operatingmagnets,are directly connected with the other pole of the generator theconditions required will be fulfilled.

Obviously, also, other means than the chain 14 may be employed to enablethe shipperlever to actuate the switch 13 to break the circuit throughthe magnet. In Fig. 16 another device is illustrated. This devicecomprises a pin 14*, which projects out from the arm 13 of the switchinto the path of the shipper-lever 4,whereby when the latter shifts itactuates the arm 13 to rotate the roller 13 and break the circuit. Inthis form of the device the spring 13 is so set as to hold the circuitclosed normally, and it is the action of the shipper-lever direct whichbreaks the circuit. In this figure the position of the shipper-lever(indicated by dotted lines) is that it occupies when the loom isrunning.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In an electricalstop-motion for looms,the combination with an electric circuit includinga generator, a portion of which circuit is composed of the metal of theloom-frame and said circuit having in it a normally open break, a magnetadapted to be energized by said circuit and thereupon to operateloom-controlling devices, devices adapted to close said normally openbreak in the circuit, and a switch insulated from the loom-frame forbreaking the circuit a moment after the normally open break shall havebeen closed, that part of said circuit between said switch and thenormally open break in the circuit being insulated from the loom-frameand containing the coils of said electromagnet.

2. In an electrical stop-motion for looms,the combination with anelectric circuit including a generator, a portion of which circuit iscomposed of the metal frame of the loom and said circuit having in it anormally open break and a normally closed break, of a magnet adapted tobe energized by said circuit and thereupon to actuate loom -controllingdevices, devices adapted to close said normally open break in thecircuit upon the failing of a warp-thread in the loom, a switch whollyinsulated from the loom-frame and adapted to open the normally closedbreak in the circuit, and means for actuating said switch after theloom-controlling devices shall have been operated by the magnet, theportion of said circuit lying between said switch and the normally openbreak in the circuit, and which contains the coils of theoperating-magnet, being insulated from the loom-frame.

3. In an electrical stop-motion for looms,the combination with the metalframe of the loom, the loom-stopping mechanism, including theshipper-lever, and magneto-mechanical means for setting said stoppingmechanismin operation, of an electric circuit for energizing theoperating-magnet, said circuit having in it a normally closed breakcontrolled by a switch insulated from the metal of the loom and actuatedby the shipper-lever, and a normally open break adapted to be closedautomatically for stopping the loom, and the said switch, the portion ofsaid circuit between the switch and the normally open break therein,which portion includes the electromagnet, being insulated from theloom-frame, and the remaining portion being in said frame.

4. In an electrical stop-motion for looms,the combination with the metalframe of the loom, the loom-stopping mechanism, including ashipper-lever, and magneto-mechanical means for setting free saidshipper-lever to stop the loom, of an electric circuit for energizingthe operating-magnet, an insulated switch in said circuit, means betweensaid switch and the operating-lever whereby the latter, in Shift ing tostop the loom, breaks the circuit, and automatic means for closing anormally open break in said circuit, one part of said circuit includingone of the terminals being grounded in the loom-frame, and the otherpart, wherein are situated the two breaks and the operating-magnet,exterior and insulated from the loom-frame.

5. In an electrical stop-motion for looms,the combination with the metalframe of the loom, the compound terminal, one electrode of the samebeing connected electrically with the loom-frame, a main conductor 12,connected electrically with the loom-frame, a shipper-lever,magneto-mechanical means for setting free said shipper-lever to stop theloom, an exterior electric circuitincluding the other electrode of thecompound terminal, the operating-magnet, and an insulated switchcontrolled by the shipper-lever, and the said switch.

6. A circuit-closing drop for an electrical warp stop-motion, of thinmetal, having an aperture for the passage of a warp-thread, an

open slot above said aperture and a slot below the latter, substantiallyas set forth.

7. A circuit-closing drop for an electrical warp stop-motion, of thinmetal, having an aperture for the warpthread, a slot below said apertureconnected with the latter by a narrow slit, and a slot above saidaperture to receive a guide, substantially as set forth.

8. A series of looms having metallic frames and magneto-mechanical stopmechanisms, the said loom-frames each forming a part of the controllingloom-circuit and connected directly with one pole of the generator,aswitch in the exterior part of the circuit of eachloom and insulatedfrom the frame, and means for operating said switch to break thecircuit, the said switches and the operating-electromagnets being inthose parts of the respective circuits which are insulated from theloomframes.

9. A series of looms having metallic frames and magneto-mechanical stopmechanisms, the said loom-frames each forming a part of the controllingloom-circuit to the loom side of the normally open break at the stopmechanism and connected directly with one pole of the generator, theotherpole of the generator being connected to a switch in the exteriorpart of the circuit of each loom and insulated from the frame, the saidswitch, and automatic means for operating said switch to break thecircuit when the loom is not running, the switch and the operating-electromagnet of each loom being in that part of the circuit of theloom which is exterior or insulated from the loom-frame.

10. A stop-motion for looms comprising a normally open electric circuit,one portion of said circuit, including one of the terminals,beinginsulated from the loom-frame, said portion also includinga magnetadapted to setin operation loom-stopping mechanism and a switch, theother portion of said circuit, including the other terminal, beinggrounded in the loom-frame, and means for closing said circuit upon thebreaking of a thread.

11. In an electrical stop-motion for looms the combination with themetal frame of the loom, a compound terminal, one member of which isgrounded in the loom-frame, a shipper-lever, a magnet and means actuatedthereby to free the shipper-lever, a switch adapted to be actuated bythe movement of the shipper-lever, said magnet, switch and othermemberof said terminal being included in a portion of the circuit insulatedfrom the loomframe, and means for closing the circuit through saidterminal.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name, this 5th day of July,1902, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK M. ARMSTRONG.

WVitnessesf:

JAMES WILsoy, MARY M. MoGIRR.

